


In the Blink of an Eye

by princesssorceress



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A little angst, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Baker!Eren, Domestic!Eren, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Masturbation, Minor Character Death, Other minor characters - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Past Drug Use, adding tags as I go, domestic!levi, non-binary hanji, self hate, smut in later chapters, writer!levi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-19 12:39:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5967715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princesssorceress/pseuds/princesssorceress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a Tuesday when Levi got the call. When he got the call he’d been heading into his twelfth hour of being hunched over his keyboard, furiously tapping away chapter after chapter of his new book. When he got the call he huffed in annoyance snatching the offending object from his pocket and accepting the call without looking at the number. When he got the call Levi is at the highest point of his shitty life, he finally had passion for something besides trying to survive, he had friends and a sister who had just had a beautiful baby girl a year ago. He never thought himself quite the type for tolerating kids much less loving one, but when Ella Church came into the world screaming and looking just like Isabel with just a hint of Farlan he fell in love with her at first glance. When Levi got the call… his whole world changed in the blink of an eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Accident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my first SNK fic and I'm kind of really nervous about it? I got the idea for this fic from watching a shitty Romantic Comedy called "Life as we know it". I tried to ignore the fic idea, but it just wouldn't leave me alone! I hope I get at least some of the characterization right and if there's any problems let me know what I can do to make it better! I don't have a beta so any mistakes are my fault! Hope you enjoy!

It was a Tuesday when Levi got the call. When he got the call he’d been heading into his twelfth hour of being hunched over his keyboard, furiously tapping away chapter after chapter of his new book. When he got the call he huffed in annoyance snatching the offending object from his pocket and accepting the call without looking at the number. When he got the call Levi is at the highest point of his shitty life, he finally had a passion for something besides trying to survive, he had friends and a sister who had just had a beautiful baby girl a year ago. He never thought himself quite the type for tolerating kids much less loving one, but when Ella Church came into the world screaming and looking just like Isabel with just a hint of Farlan he fell in love with her at first glance. When Levi got the call… his whole world changed in the blink of an eye.

Everything from the time he answered his phone to the time he made it to the hospital was a blur of white and greys on a blood red background. Red seemed to be the color that couldn’t stay out of his life. It was red when he lost his mother. It was red when his Uncle beat him every day for six years. It was red when he nearly died in the slums of his home town, with a needle in his arm and a gunshot to his stomach. And it was red now as he rushed past the emergency room doors slamming his hands onto the front desk. 

Levi was sure he looked a fright right now, but giving his less than caring nature on a normal day, right now he couldn’t care less. “Isabel, Ella and Farlan Church. There was an accident.” He was gasping for breath at this point and the receptionist looked at him with wide eyes. 

“Just a moment sir.” She murmured and began to tap away on her computer. Her eyes narrowed at the screen and his heart dropped. 

_No, not again. This isn’t happening again._

His breathing was coming faster and the world spun. someone was shouting at him, but he couldn’t see, couldn’t move, couldn’t feel.

And then there was a hand on his shoulder and he was flinching away. Instead of the glaring eyes he expected he found only soft honey colored eyes and he relaxed shaking his head at the nurse. 

“Sir are you alright? Do you need a wheelchair? You look a bit faint.”

Oh and he felt it too, the nausea and dizziness of anxiety crawling up his spine, but he shook his head and forced his chattering teeth to grit out “Isabel.” and her eyes widened in shock and fear.

She squeaked and cleared her throat “In surgery Sir. They both are. I can’t tell you anymore until the doctors are finished. Are you family?” 

Levi nods urgently “Well good. They’ll come talk to you whenever there’s news. You can take a seat in the waiting room.”

“Wait you said both. Where’s Ella? Where’s my niece?!” The panic swells again and his voice is low and dangerous when he speaks.

“T-there was no child sir.” 

The despair overwhelms him and he falls to his knees with the force of it, but then a more rational side of his brain reminds him “ _Isabel left Ella with Farlan’s best friend, Eren I think is his name. The brat that runs the bakery with him._ ” His heart rate slows and Levi slowly gets up.

“She’s with the babysitter.” He breathes out and the nurse nods looking relieved but too afraid to speak to him.

He grumbles out some semblance of thanks and turns to sit down on one of the many uncomfortable chairs. When he finally has found a somewhat comfortable position he did something he had never done before. Levi bowed his head and prayed to any deity that might be listening “ _Please let my sister be okay. For Ella’s sake and Farlan’s as well._ ” and then he adds out loud quieter than a whisper “And for my sake too.”

* * *

When Eren gets the call he’s knee deep in stuffed animals and toys with a sleeping Ella on his shoulder. When Eren gets the call the glare he sends the loud object would be enough to turn anyone to stone. When Eren gets the call he’s at the lowest point in his life. Fresh from a breakup and a two-year-long court battle with his father has left the twenty-five year old drained. His only refuge is in his kitchen, cooking and baking until he can only think about trivial things like ingredients and recipes, and the sleeping bundle in his arms that he grows fonder of day after day, the product of one of the best people in his life excluding his sister Mikasa and Armin of course. When Eren gets the call his whole world changes in the blink of an eye as well.

After grabbing Ella’s bag and wrestling a screaming one-year-old into her car seat Eren peels out of the driveway of Isabel and Farlan’s house. The drive to the hospital is a short one, but Eren thinks it feels like it's been a hundred years when he finally parks in the dark parking garage of Sina Hospital. The careful balancing of baby and bag has him distracted from the panic bubbling in his stomach until he makes it through the emergency room door.

The first thing he notices upon entering is a short man with a black undercut and fierce grey eyes scrubbing down the lobby with a paper towel and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Eren’s lips twitch at the spectacle of Levi frantically cleaning a place that wasn’t his to clean. Eren knows this is typical, from his few run-ins with Levi he’s learned the man is impeccably clean and keeps his surroundings much the same. 

Eren finds himself in front of the desk, a honey-eyed nurse looking at him expectantly and he shakes his head a bit and gives her a forced smile, remembering why he’s here in the first place. 

“Hi. Sorry about that. I’m here for Isabel and Farlan Church?” She studies him first and then the baby in his arms.

“Your the babysitter right?” She asks and Eren looks at her with a calculating look.

“Yes, and Farlan’s second emergency contact next to his wife.” 

“Are you family?” 

“Well no but-” 

“Then I’m sorry sir I can’t disclose any information at this time. You’re welcome to wait until the news is delivered to the family.”

Eren’s temper flared, his teal eyes darkening to a forest green “So you’re telling me that even though I’m his emergency contact, his best friend, the closest thing he has to family, you can’t tell me if he’s even alive or not?!” He seethed, the nurse flinched, and Ella started to scream. Eren’s anger vanished as he rushed to console the wailing child, but when he looked back at the nurse ice filled his stare.

“I-I’m sorry sir, but its hospital policy to-” 

Her voice trailed off as she stared at something behind him and he huffed to see what was so important that she had stopped talking. Eren’s eyes met stormy grey as he looked down to see Levi less than a few feet from where he was standing. His hands outstretched like he was waiting for something. Eren looked at him questioningly and Levi raised a brow in answer and nodded towards the screaming bundle of Ella in his arms. Eren flushed and handed her off, watching intently as Ella quieted at the transaction and looking up at her uncle with adoring eyes.

“They’re in surgery. Have been for awhile. Come, sit.” Levi murmured before walking off to sit down. 

Eren sat in a stupor for a few seconds. _They’re in surgery. Have been for awhile._ If Eren had learned anything from his monster of a father it was that long surgery either meant life-lasting consequences or death, they rarely meant that the patient would be perfectly fine. The ice settled into the pit of his stomach, spreading through his limbs and veins. _This can’t be happening. I’m not losing someone again._ But he pushed the fear and anxiety away, determination melting the ice in his bones. They wouldn’t die, Farlan wouldn’t die, he couldn’t.

Eren shook himself mentally and threw an apologetic smile back at the traumatized nurse before finding a seat by Levi. The raven haired man is sitting stiffly, his eyes closed and a content Ella nestled into the crook of his neck, fast asleep. Eren has to smile at the spectacle of such a distant, cold man managing to look so uncomfortable while simultaneously snuggling a baby. Levi’s eyes flash open and he raises a brow at Eren as if to say “What are you staring at brat?”. _No, wait,_ Eren thinks, _he said that out loud_. Eren flushes and looks away before mumbling “Nothing.”

Not being one to push things, especially things concerning a bright-eyed brat, Levi shrugs and settles back in his seat. The silence stretches on and Eren is almost vibrating with a nervous energy while on his other side Levi is as calm and complacent as ever, a mask of indifference on his face.

After a half hour of this Eren finally snaps. “How can you be so calm? Why are you not freaking out?” 

Levi either doesn’t hear him or is ignoring him, but Eren’s not one to give up. “God only knows what is going on beyond those doors and you just act so calm. Why?!” He raises his voice slightly at the end and Levi turns his head to glare at him. 

“They could be dying in there and you act like you don’t give a fuck. Hell maybe they already are-” Eren is cut off by a small hand connecting with his cheek in an open hand slap. Eren gasps and grabs his face rage boiling in his veins, his eyes alight with fire.

Levi is even worse the icy gaze pushes against Eren’s fiery gaze relentlessly and he’s visibly shaking with repressed anger. Eren knows if it weren’t for the sleeping baby in his arms he'd be getting pummeled. 

“You don’t know a thing about me kid. If you honestly think I don’t care about my sister and brother-in-law you’re more stupid than you look.” He leaves it at that and gets up to sit across the room. Eren knows that following him would be a death sentence.

An hour after their heated argument Levi strides over and slips Ella carefully into Eren’s arms. He takes up position in the middle of the floor pacing so fast Eren’s surprised the carpet hasn’t burst into flames. Thirty minutes of pacing later and the doors to the patient area swing open and a greying man with glasses and a grim expression strides towards the front desk. He says a few words to the nurse and she points over to where Levi is wearing a hole in the floor. Eren’s heart immediately drops and his stomach turns. Ella is still asleep in his arms and he glances at the clock on the wall. Its 2 am. _They’ve been in surgery too long. Oh god._ He thinks to himself.

Levi only notices the doctor when his path in his pacing is blocked. Eren can’t see the doctor’s face from this angle but he can see Levi’s. He can see the anxiety creeping into his eyes, which is quickly replaced by concern. There’s only one more emotion in that stormy gaze before Levi falls to his knees. Despair. 

In seconds Eren’s on his feet, his arms clutching the small body in his arms. Each step feels like a thousand, his feet turning to lead the closer he gets to Levi, but somehow he makes it and drops to his knees in front of him. There are tears streaming down the once cold man’s face. Eren opens his mouth to ask, but the words stick in his throat a wave of desperation strangling him. But Levi knows what he wants to say and he answers the unspoken question with a shake of his head and that’s all it takes for Eren to fall apart. They’re dead. 

The sobs wrack his whole body, the shaking waking Ella up and she starts to wail as well. Eren tries his best to console her, but it's no use when he’s crying as hard as she is. Levi wants to take her, Eren can see it in his eyes, but before he can there’s a hand on his shoulder and he looks up through the never ending tears to find honey eyes staring at him with a mix of pity and concern.

“I can take her if you’d like a minute to grieve hon.” At those words, Eren clutches Ella tighter, not willing to let the last piece of Isabel and Farlan out of his sight, but he looks to see Levi nodding through his own grief and Eren reluctantly passes a squirming Ella to the nurse. Once there is nothing hindering the movements of his arms Eren tugs Levi towards him, wrapping him in a strong embrace.

Levi tenses and Eren chokes out a plea through his tears and Levi just nods, letting the brat hold him. They stay like that for hours.

* * *

 

After they cried themselves out the doctor had explained what had happened. Isabel and Farlan had been on their way home from a weekend out of town when a drunk driver in a giant truck hit their tiny Prius head on. Isabel had suffered immense head trauma and a shattered leg bone and after hours of trying to pick the fragments out of her leg, she instead scummed to the hemorrhaging in her brain. Farlan, on the other hand, was nearly perfectly fine, excluding the 12-inch piece of shrapnel lodged in his right lung. His lungs collapsed an hour before Isabel died. 

Levi and Eren had somehow made a silent agreement, neither one wanting to leave Ella’s side right now, so they both took Levi’s car, a murmured promise to drive Eren to pick his up whenever he wanted. Another silent agreement was made as Levi turned onto the highway towards Isabel and Farlan’s house. Eren had put Ella to sleep the minute they walked through the door and a few seconds later he collapsed on the couch, pulling his knees to his chest and starting to shake. 

Levi left him to his grief, how was he supposed to handle this brat’s when his own was swallowing him, drowning him. Levi dragged his sluggish body up the stairs. his feet felt like they weighed a ton and he stumbled halfway up before cursing and picking himself back up. he walked down the hall towards the guest bedroom hoping to finally be able to break down in self-hatred in peace, but instead he paused at another door. He hesitated for the briefest of seconds before pushing the door open. It looked like they had just been there. Isabel's hair ties were spread across her bedside table and Farlan’s sketch pads were stacked on top of their dresser. The bed was made, but there were clothing items strewn about the floor. Normally Levi would scoff at his adopted sister lack of cleanliness and he would start to do the job for her, but now Levi just hurt. His heart, his mind, his eyes everything hurt.

So instead, he toed his shoes off at the door, flicked the baby monitor on, and fell into Isabel’s side of the bed. Tears welled up anew as Levi pressed his face to the pillow and breathed in. You were the one person that wasn’t supposed to leave me Is. His tears stained the pillow and he bitterly thought about the person who had caused all of this. I won’t let that fucker get away. I’ll do anything to put him away little sis. He thought and then whispered aloud “I promise.”

* * *

The next few weeks are a blur for the two men. Another unspoken agreement of them both staying at the house is made and they spend the week in a haze, Levi cleaning every surface of the house ten times over every day and taking care of Ella the best he can, while Eren bakes and cooks too much food to eat, making more messes for Levi to clean up. Levi usually would be frustrated with the brat and would be yelling at him for not cleaning up after himself, but Levi relishes in the distraction of scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom.

Three weeks later the Sunday of the burial service rolls around and a somber mood is in the air. Levi had opted for a quiet burial and a wake with the few friends Farlan and Isabel had. Eren and Levi dress in their best blacks and Eren wrestles Ella into a black dress and headband. He takes a moment to look at her, his eyes tearing up for what feels like the millionth time this week, as he takes in Ella’s blue-green eyes and reddish-brown hair. Those features came straight from Isabel and Eren sniffles at the familiar eyes, but what sends him over the edge is Ella smiling at him just like Farlan used to.

Levi finds Eren clutching a baby in a dress to his chest, tear tracks on his face, and singing softly to the giggling baby. Levi feels his lips twitch involuntarily, but his face sets into a grim line when he takes in the black dress on Ella. This wasn’t a day for smiling much less singing. 

Eren turns to him and gives him a gentle smile that makes Levi forget about his previous thought. His heart stuttering in his chest. He grimaces at the feeling pushing it off. Tch. Brat and his overly stupid smile. How can he even smile today? 

Levi glares at him “Ready to go brat?” 

Eren’s smile drops and he stares at his feet before nodding solemnly. Levi takes the baby from his arms and strides out of the room and down the stairs. Eren follows seconds later, a baby bag slung over his arm. Once in the car, Levi turned onto the road, driving towards the funeral. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Ella and felt the anxiety of the thing that had been pushing into his thoughts all week. Who did my sister leave her child too? He half hoped it was him, but a deeper more reasonable part of him realized if she did leave Ella to him he'd be up shit creek without a paddle.

He knew the basics of taking care of a child, but parenting was a whole other thing. He barely had a handle on being an uncle, much less a guardian. Ella deserved the best, but Levi knew he wasn’t it. Most days he struggled to take care of himself. Taking on a child would be like sentencing them both to a miserable life. Despite all of that, Levi knew if Isabel and Farlan left him Ella, he wouldn’t be able to say no. He knew what it was like parentless and on the streets, doing anything to make enough money just to eat every few days. He would never send a child to that kind of fate, he wasn’t that heartless. 

He sighed as he pulled into the church parking lot and filed the thoughts away for later. Eren carried Ella and Levi carried the bag this time. They made their way towards the two holes in the ground. The caskets are waiting under a tent and a few men stand around ready to help lower the bodies to their resting place. 

The burial service is short and Eren sheds more tears than Levi while Ella just looks confused. Levi swipes a gloved hand loving over his sister’s coffin and takes a shaky breath before stepping back and letting the men lower his only family into the ground. Eren places Ella in his heads before kneeling down beside Farlan’s closed coffin, not caring about getting grass stains on his pants. He presses his hands to the dark wood and lets his tears fall. 

“Bleiben Sie sicher, mein Bruder” He whispers to the wood before standing and backing away to Levi’s side.

After throwing handfuls of dirt onto the waiting boxes below they stand in silence and watch as the coffins disappear beneath shovelfuls of dirt. Once all is said and done they head back to the car, Levi more anxious than anyone to get out of there. He feels the reality of it all closing in.

The wake is held at the house and is very small. Mikasa and Armin show up, both close enough to Farlan to make the list, but not close enough to attend the funeral. The staff from Eren and Farlan’s bakery “The Rose” are there too, along with some of Isabel’s coworkers from the daycare she worked at. All in all, it’s a quiet event with hushed murmuring, finger food, and a bit of wine. Eren circles around and thanks everyone for coming while Levi sits in the corner clutching Ella to him. 

Everyone had been sitting and making small talk when the doorbell rang and Levi rushed to get it. He opened it to find a bald man about Levi’s height with a sad smile on his face and a briefcase in his hand. Levi’s breath caught in his throat. 

“Hi is this the Church residence? I'm Connie Springer. I’m here to talk about the will and testament of Isabel and Farlan church? I hope this isn’t a bad time.” 

Levi opened his mouth to speak but found himself incapable of doing so. Instead, he shook his head and opened the door wider, stepping to the side to let the man in. 

Levi found his voice quickly after that “We have guests in the living room. Would you mind doing this in the kitchen?” 

The man, Connie, shook his head and turned to walk in the direction Levi had pointed, but stopped himself seeming to remember something.

“Is there an Eren Jaeger here? I’m afraid I can’t proceed if he’s not.” Connie said and Levi frowned. He figured Farlan had left the brat something, but could it really be that important?

“Yes, he’s here. He’s just in the other room. Might I ask why he needs to be present?” My face settled into a hard mask and Connie visibly flinched.

“I uh, I’d rather not say anything until we’re all sitting down,” He stumbled over his words “Uh sir.” He tagged on as an afterthought and Levi resisted the urge to smirk.

Instead, he nodded towards the door that leads to the kitchen. Ella had long since fallen asleep and Levi looked down at her in his arms fondly, stroking her cheek with his index finger and laughing when she scrunched up her nose just like Isabel used to. He found Eren easily enough and strode over to him.

“Oi brat guys here about their will and testament said you had to be in attendance for the talk.” 

Eren’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion but he nodded nonetheless before noticing the sleeping Ella in his arms. He scooped her up from his arms with finesse and grace before turning to the blonde with a bob haircut he had been talking to. 

“Armin I have something to attend to. Can you go put Ella down? Up the stairs first door on the right.” Eren said before shifting Ella to Armin’s waiting arms and taking off without another word. The blonde mushroom stood shocked and looked at me as it asking “What the hell?” Levi shrugged and smirked before following after Eren.

Connie was already at the table while Eren was flitting about the kitchen grabbing cups and a kettle. Eren turned as Levi walked through the doorway and he gave Levi a soft smile.

“Levi would you like some tea?” He asked tilting his head to the side. _He looks like a puppy._

He scoffed at the thought but nodded nonetheless. Now was not the time to be turning down some tea. He needed anything he could get to calm his nerves. After setting the kettle on the stove Eren took a seat beside him and they both turned to face the Man who had brought them here.

Connie had already pulled out the papers and he looked up at us with a tentative smile. “Now before we begin I’d like to remind you that while you are not obligated to agree to the things I’m about to tell you, they are the last wishes of your loved ones and they thought that they knew what was best.” 

Eren looks at Levi warily, but he just shrugs. Despite the apprehension blooming in Levi, he keeps a calm facade about him, as always.

“Now first thing is the house. Mr. and Mrs. Church wanted the house to go to Ella, but seeing as she is still an infant it will go to her caretaker until she is of age.” Levi opened his mouth to ask the question burning in his throat but Connie held up a finger. “We’ll get to that.” 

“The co-owned establishment of ‘The Rose Bakery’ is now fully passed over in ownership to Mr. Eren Jaeger as well as the company's funds and Farlan’s savings for the expansion.” Eren gasped at that and his eyes shimmered with tears.

“Half of the savings of Mr. and Mrs. Church will be set away in a trust fund for Ella’s education. The other half is for Levi Ackerman.” Levi’s eyes grew wide at that but he found his composure quickly. 

“There’s one more thing before we get to the main portion. Isabel has left Levi a sterling silver pin with wings. It says you’ll know what she speaks of.” Levi lets out a choked noise at that. She always wore that damn thing when they lived on the streets. Said it was good luck. It had been the first thing Levi had given her.

Levi feels a warm grips take his hand and he looks down to find his hand in Eren’s grasp. He wants to throw his hand off him. Who know’s what germs could be lurking on the shitty brat’s hands. But for some reason, he doesn’t. He doesn’t actually return the grasp, he just lets his hand stay limp in Eren’s, but it's enough for the teal-eyed brat as he shoots Levi a grateful smile. 

Levi turns his attention back to Connie who is looking gravely at the paper. He glances up and fixes his eyes on them. “Now for the hard part. I assume you know we must discuss who will take over guardianship of Ella Church.” He stares at both of them equally which confuses Eren and Levi both, but they nod anyways.

“Mr. and Mrs. Church struggled with this the most. They spent weeks arguing back and forth over who would take care of their daughter should something happen. They finally found a compromise.” Levi could feel the dread pooling in his stomach. _I can’t lose Ella too. Please no._

Connie cleared his throat “The guardianship and custody of Ella Viseana Church will be split between her two uncle’s Levi Ackerman and Eren Jaeger.” 

The shock hit both of them like a freight train. Levi had expected to be granted custody of his niece, but having to share it was something he never would’ve guessed. Not only that but sharing it with this brat. Levi almost laughed until he saw the serious expression on Connie’s face and the shock on Eren’s.

Levi’s face darkened. “Excuse me?” 

Connie shrunk back in his seat. “I know this isn’t the most orthodox or logical of solutions, but Isabel and Farlan thought that separately you two would fall apart trying to raise their daughter. But they thought that if you did it together… Ella would feel as much love and support as she would if they were still alive.” He paused and cleared his throat. “They left you two letters explaining their reasoning. If you both will have them that is.” He shoved two envelopes across the table and sighed. 

“Now here’s the part I’m not looking forward to. If either of you or god forbid both of you are not up to the challenge I’ll need you to fill out some forms releasing your custody and I’ll get you in contact with a lawyer to settle the case in a month’s time.” 

Levi scoffed. “I can’t speak for the brat, but I can tell you now no niece of mine is going to be shoved from foster home to foster home when I have a perfectly good house right here to raise her in.”

Connie nodded emphatically before turning to Eren who was still trying to find out why Farlan had chosen him of all people to shoulder the burden of raising a child with Levi. He knew He was the closest thing to family Farlan had and he knew that the shit they went through together bonded them for life, but this was so much. So much trust and so much love and assurance Eren felt his heart simultaneously swell with love and pang with the loss. 

Eren looked up realizing that both men were looking at him expectantly. He smiled sheepishly, the shock melting from his features. Then he said the one thing Levi least expected him to say. “Of course, I’ll do it.” 

And just like that, in the blink of an eye, their lives had become intertwined in the most permanent of ways.       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bleiben Sie sicher, mein Bruder means "Be safe my brother". Hope you all enjoyed it, let me know what you thought :)


	2. I Will Follow You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Eren backstory and Levi figuring out how fucked he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Past Attempted Suicide!  
> This chapter is a bit shorter, but hey at least its another chapter really quick am i right? Thanks for all of the kudos everyone has left, it means a lot to any writer. I hope this chapter is good as well! Thanks for reading and maybe tell me what you think? This chapter was not betaed so any mistakes are mine. The song at the end is Follow You by Bring Me the Horizon. Enjoy!

Weeks pass with a monotonous vibe settled over the two new guardians. The house stays clean and stocked with sugary delights. Levi swears the kid is pulling all of these cookies, cakes, and pastries out of his ass with how many appear bagged all over the kitchen. Ella is definitely not complaining. Despite Levi’s insistence that she didn’t need _ three _ cookies after each meal Eren seemed to think Levi wouldn’t notice if he slipped her two extra after the one allotted cookie. But of course, Levi noticed.

The heavy grief that had settled over the house melted into the background as they learned how to balance this new strange life they had signed up for. Eren had sold his small apartment a week after the wake, bringing his few boxes of belongings and shoving them into the outside shed. It was an unspoken rule that Levi acquired the guest room and  _ their _ master bedroom was to remain untouched. Honestly, Eren thought the couch wasn’t so bad. For the first few weeks anyways. 

They hadn’t really talked about their shared custody and what that meant for the next 17 years of their lives. Honestly, Eren and Levi hardly talked at all besides the quiet good mornings and goodnights and the discussion of who would watch Ella when. Levi being the creature of habit of the house had decided to make a calendar chart of when and where they all had to be on different days of the week. 

A month after the wake Eren wakes up with a stiff back and an irritating grumpiness settled over him. He drags himself into the shower and turns the hot water all the way up. The water relaxes his muscles and brightens his mood slightly. As he walks into the hallway, running a towel through his hair with a towel on his hips he hits resistance in front of him. He flings his damp hair from his eyes and looks from his towel to see a pair of gray eyes looking at him in a calculating way that makes a shiver go down his spine. He attributes it to the cold air.

Levi had managed to not fall on his ass as the bright-eyed brat ran dead into him, but now taking in the scene in front of him he felt a dangerous heat shoot through him. His eyes found Eren’s chest committing the surprisingly sculpted muscle to memory. Before he could make an idiot out of himself his eyes flashed up to Eren’s face noting that his hair looked adorable wet and hanging in his eyes. 

Levi pushed the thought from his head as he did the familiar heat he felt at seeing the brat half naked and instead fixed him with a glare before pushing past him into the steamy bathroom.

“Watch where you’re going brat. And put some goddamn clothes on. No one wants to see that.” He muttered before slamming the door in Eren’s face.

When Levi had finally finished scrubbing his skin till it stung he made his way downstairs. He found Eren feeding Ella and cooing to her softly. Levi didn’t know whether to sigh or smile at the sight. For a month now he had wondered why the kid had taken up the role Isabel and Farlan had left them. He was still young in the grand scheme of things. He had a successful bakery and a steady stream of friends and surely had a lot of girls jumping at the chance to be with him. Levi resented the thought, but despite the brats over-enthusiasm over everything and less than cleanly behavior he was easy on the eyes. 

So why had he given up his everyday life to care for a child (that wasn’t even his blood) with Levi? Levi thought in circles always thinking up excuses as to why, but always finding a hole in his theories and coming back to the question at hand. It made him nervous to not know someone’s reasoning for doing things. Reading people was his thing. He could tell when someone was honest or lying when someone was dangerous or harmless. It was a skill he had needed on the streets and it got him out of a lot of bad situations. But for some reason, Levi couldn’t read the brat for the life of him when it came to this question. He couldn’t figure out what Eren hoped to gain from all of this or if he even planned on staying true to his commitment. And _ that _ made Levi nervous. 

Levi realized he had been staring half a second too late. Eren turned to him a bright smile on his face and Levi nearly winced.  _ Damn kid could light up a stadium with that smile _ . He thought to himself. 

“Somethin’ on your mind Levi?” Eren asked his head cocked to the side in that puppy dog way that made Levi want to smack and hug the brat all at the same time. Eren’s eyebrows furrowed in the way they did when he was confused or frustrated.  _ Tch. Losing my sister sure has made me sappy. _ Levi thought bitterly, forgetting again that he was still staring.

“Levi?” The smile had dropped from Eren’s face and instead his eyes filled with concern.

“Why are you here?” Levi blurted and then internally cursed at his blunt nature.

“What do you mean?”

Levi sighed, dragging a hand down his face before stepping over to the stove to brew some much-needed tea. when he had set the kettle on the stove he turned to face Eren again. “I mean why are you here? It's been a month and I still don’t understand why you agreed to all of… this.” Levi said waving his hand to gesture towards the whole situation. 

Eren’s eyes widened and his gaze shot towards Ella who was happily eating cheerios from her chubby fingers. “Because of her.”

Levi rolls his eyes “I get that you feel pity for her, but you know you just signed yourself up for 17 years of this. Sharing custody or living together and taking care of a living thing that depends on you. She’s not even your blood and yet you gave it all up so easy. Why?” 

Eren stands so fast the chair he had been sitting up flies back and falls to the floor. His hands shake and Levi’s eyes widen. Ella seems a bit concerned, but after Eren takes a few deep breaths and shoots the little girl a calming smile she giggles before shoving another handful of cheerios into her mouth.

Eren is bent over the now upright chair, his hair shadowing his face and Levi almost regrets phrasing it that way. Almost.

“Did Isabel or Farlan ever tell you the story of how Farlan and I met?” He hears Eren murmur. 

He shakes his head before realizing Eren isn’t facing him so instead he says impassively “No.” 

“When I was 17 a lot of things happened all at once. You see my dad had been beating me for years. I never knew why, still don’t, but he was brutal. My mom died when I was thirteen. Cancer. We found it in stage four. She didn’t make it a month.” Eren laughs bitterly and Levi can feel a mixture of empathy and discomfort bloom in his chest, but he stays silent.

“I always had a hunch that I reminded him too much of her. Mikasa, my sister, tried her best to protect me. When it got bad she’d step in between us and my dad would walk away. He never hit her. When I was seventeen my dad came home one night drunk as all hell. He was supposed to be out of town for the week, Mikasa was at a friends house. I almost died that night. Up until I met Farlan I wished I had.”

“I was in the hospital for a bit and when I got out they told us my dad had disappeared. He didn’t come back. We sold the house and used the money to buy a small apartment and put the rest away to use to stay afloat until Mikasa could find a job. I fell into depression and self-hatred. I blamed myself for a lot of shit. Long story short three months after my dad left Mikasa was at work and I left a note on the counter explaining what I was doing.” Levi feels nauseous like he knows what's about to come, but can’t bring himself to make Eren stop.

“There was a bridge above a beautiful river walking distance from our apartment. Before everything else I would go there and look out on the water, imaging it was the ocean. It was one of the only places I found peace. This time, as I made my way towards it I felt that peace settle over me just the same.” He sighs sadly in almost a wistful way.

“I had two feet on the edge of the bridge, about to take the plunge, when a voice stopped me. I was startled almost slipping off the bridge I was about to jump from, but a hand grabbed me by the neck of my shirt and yanked me from the edge. I screamed, I raged, I begged for the mysterious person to let me go, to let me die. They never let go. That person was Farlan.” Eren finally turns to look at Levi a small smile on his face, but tears streaming down his cheeks. Levi is startled by the overwhelming urge to reach out and comfort the brat. He resists, but his hands still twitch at his sides.

“Farlan took me home after I had cried myself out. He stayed there for hours and eventually we started talking. I told him what had happened over the last several years of my life and he told me his story in return. He had been a foster kid and had just aged out of the system. He had been on his way to his favorite bench to sleep on in the park by the river when he had seen me about to jump. He saved my life that day. So in return I offered him a couch to sleep on and an open invitation to stay as long as he wasn’t an ax murderer.” Eren laughs at this and Levi’s lips twitch slightly.

“I helped him get his GED and he helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Honestly, I didn’t think about culinary school once in my life until I met Farlan and learned he could bake like a motherfucker. I learned almost everything I know from him.” 

Eren has finally paused in his talking and Levi takes the opportunity to slip in a few words. “I’m sorry you had to go through that shit kid. Trust me when I say I know what it's like.” Levi can see the curiosity in his eyes, but before he can ask Levi shakes his head.

“Another time kid.” 

Eren nods reluctantly and the room goes silent. Ella has long since been out of cheerios and is now starting to squirm at the highchairs confinement. Eren unstraps her and slips her into the stand and bounce baby toy before turning back to Levi.

“So to answer your question I’m doing this for a lot of reasons. I owe Farlan my life and if he thinks I’m good enough to help raise his only child then I’ll do it. It's not about ‘giving up my life’ because without him I wouldn’t have any of the things I have today.” He stares at Ella with a loving smile and shakes his head. “And because I love that kid more than anything. I’d do anything for her and I don’t want her childhood to be anything like mine.” His face darkens slightly.

Levi is astounded. He knew the kid was enthusiastic, but this passion, this depth to his thought process was something Levi wasn’t accustomed to seeing in Eren. He was slightly envious of the kids drive and lack of cynicism, but more than anything he was awe-filled. He couldn’t find the words to show what he was thinking and honestly, even if he could Levi knew he wouldn’t say them to Eren’s face. So he settles for a smile that probably looks more like a smirk and a shake of his head before mumbling. 

“Not bad brat.” and turning towards the tea kettle that had just started to whistle. 

Levi doesn’t see the beaming smile Eren shoots him or his teal eyes filled with gratitude and happiness, but that doesn’t matter because Levi can practically feel the brats exuberance vibrating through the room.

Levi snorts “Don’t get too excited brat. You’ll shit your pants.” 

Eren splutters, his ears turning red before he laughs and  _ goddamn _ Levi’s heart speeds up at the sound. 

“You have an odd sense of humor. I like it.” Eren says in a tone Levi knows is genuine and he swears his cheeks don’t redden at that.

“Tch. Shitty brat.” He mutters before striding over to the charted calendar. He scans it casually.

“You have Ella until one today?” He calls over his shoulder.

“Mhm. Don’t forget I have a wedding tomorrow to deliver a cake to. Which means I need to make finishing touches tonight.” 

Levi waves his hand in a gesture of understanding “Yea, yea. Well, I’ll be upstairs, but please don’t bother me unless it's an emergency. I have a deadline to meet which is approaching very quickly.”

Eren brightens at that “Oh! That’s right, you’re a writer. What are you writing?” 

Levi shifts uncomfortably. He’s not used to talking about his work to anyone except his publisher, Erwin, Hanji and, of course, Isabel. He winces slightly at the realization that for the first time in his life she isn’t here to push him to crank out that next sentence, that next paragraph, that next chapter. He recovers quickly, but the heartache lingers as it always does. 

“I’ll tell you some other time. Or hell you can buy the damn thing when it comes out.” He finally says. 

Eren laughs “What? Roommates/ Co-guardians don’t get a free copy?” He teases.

Levi scoffs “Maybe they would if they weren’t such cocky brats.” 

Eren laughs even more at this and Ella joins in happy to see Eren laughing even if it's not at her. 

Levi heads towards the stairs, a cup of steaming tea and a baggy of cookies in hand. As he rounds the corner he can hear Eren singing a quiet song to Ella.

_ Cross my heart and hope to die promise you I'll never leave your side cause I'm telling you you're all I need. _

And that’s when Levi knows two things. Isabel and Farlan definitely made the right choice and Levi is absolutely fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This probably won't be a slow burn fic, but it will have its own bit of drama and angst. There's a lot to think about in this situation but for right now the boys are going to battle their feelings to the bitter end. Hope everything was okay in this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	3. Doubly Fucked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi talk about things and Levi royally screws himself. Literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter? Yes another chapter. (I'm kinda giggling at my chapter summary. You'll see why cx) Sorry it took longer than the others, I kinda had a crisis about where to go with this, but now I know what the hell I'm doing so existential crisis averted lol! Did I mention before that this wasn't going to be be a slow build? More of a medium paced build. Sexually at least. Anyways notice the rating update and updated tags please! Its important! But thanks for reading and tell me what you thought? Its my first time smut writing even though its not actual sex...yet. Its unbetaed again so all mistakes are mine, don't be afraid to point them out if you find errors. Enjoy! ;)

The next morning Levi is sitting in the kitchen when Eren starts flying around the house in a hailstorm of movement. Levi knew the brat had gotten in late, or rather early depending on how you looked at it. When Levi had gotten up at 3 a.m in a bout of insomnia Eren had still been missing from the couch. 

In his hustle to get ready Eren tripped over his own feet twice, hit his head once, and spilt hot coffee all over his shirt. Levi almost got a chuckle out of that one as he watched the younger man yelp and hiss in pain. Ella seemed to find it funny as well, as she giggled at Eren’s misfortune. Levi gave a huff of amusement which Eren responded to by shooting him a glare.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re the dumb ass that spilt coffee all over yourself.” Levi huffed.

Eren rolled his eyes “Doesn’t mean you have to be such a jerk about it.”

“Hey, she laughed too!” Levi said pointing at Ella which caused her to giggle loudly.

“Levi she’s a baby. Is that really your only defense?” 

Levi sighed and turned to Ella, picking her up from her playpen and speaking to her in a low voice that he knew Eren could still hear “Uncle Eren is an entertaining idiot hmm sweetheart?” 

“Hey!” Eren gave an indignant cry and Levi chuckled under his breath before turning to face him again.

Levi slipped Ella into her highchair “What is it now brat-” Levi stopped as his eyes took in the sight of Eren slipping the white button up from his shoulders in front of the washer and dryer and then peeling the soiled undershirt from his skin.

Eren said something else in return, but Levi was suddenly unfocused on his words and instead intent on watching the muscles of Eren’s shoulders roll as he tossed the shirts into the hamper. And then Eren bent over to swipe a new undershirt from the dryer and Levi’s eyes fell to his ass. Eren had decided on his ass hugging black pants today and Levi felt his blood flow start to relocate to the bottom half of his body. 

Eren threw the undershirt on and Levi’s view was suddenly covered and he shook his head to clear it. This brat and his damn good looks were a problem for Levi. He wasn’t used to this. The attraction he could handle, he was decent looking enough that most of the time he could find himself in bed with any guy that caught his eye, but Eren was different. Levi couldn’t just fuck Eren and then promise to call when he knew he wouldn’t. They lived together, they had a kid together and nothing was going to change that especially once the papers went through.

Eren was giving him a questioning look now and Levi forced himself to fall back into his uncaring demeanour. 

“You know it's 9:45 right?” Levi said and almost laughed at the immediate “shit” that came out of Eren’s mouth.

That was all it took for Eren to immediately lose his shit again. As he raced back into the living room Levi shook his head deciding attraction was nothing he couldn’t handle. Eventually, he’d find some other specimen who's touch he could stand and he’d fuck his frustration out then. Eren was a brat, a shitty brat at that and those big bright eyes weren’t going to change that.

Speaking of said shitty brat, he had finally managed to button up another clean white shirt and had his phone wedged between his ear and shoulder yelling obscenely to whoever was on the other line.

“I’m coming Jean don’t get your damn panties in a twist. You know as well as I do how early I got home.”

Levi snickered at that and Eren shot him a glare which had Levi rolling his eyes. If it was anyone else they might have been intimidated by Eren’s fiery glare, but Levi just thought he looked like an annoyed kitten. _ What is up with me and comparing the shitty kid to small animals _ . He thought, wrinkling his nose as he did so.

Ella babbled nonsensically around a mouthful of baby cereal Levi had spread across the high chairs top. And then she giggled loudly spewing the chewed bits of cereal onto Levi’s face. There was a breath of silence before Levi realized what had happened and then he was up out of the chair and trying to take deep calming breaths.

_ “Calm down. She’s just a baby, this isn’t the worst thing that’s ever touched you.” _ He thought about the time he had been flung into a dumpster by some other drug dealers and visibly cringed. He knows he just needs to take a minute, wipe it all off and  _ breathe _ , but damn he could practically feel the bacteria making its home on his face and he shook as he bent over the sink and turned the faucet on with shaking hands.

“Hey, Jean I gotta go. Load up the truck so we can leave as soon as I get there. And don’t let Sasha touch the damn cake.”

Levi’s hands shook as he took handfuls of soap into his hands. He nearly came up swinging when a hand rested on his shoulder. He shot Eren a bone chilling glare until he saw the outstretched hand holding a handful of baby wipes. He kept his glare on the kid, but it lessened when he saw the look of concern clouding Eren’s eyes. 

Levi’s hand shook as he took the wipes and Eren shook his head and brought the wipes up cautiously before wiping the gooey bits of cereal from Levi’s cheeks. Levi tried to concentrate on getting his breathing back under control instead of Eren’s hands gently swiping over his skin in an almost affectionate way. 

That thought made Levi spring backward from the touch. “I can take care of this myself shitty brat. Don’t you have somewhere to be?” The edge in his voice made Eren frown and shrink back. 

Levi almost wished he could take the cold words back. Almost. 

“Yea sorry… Just trying to help. Did You get her? I’m already late as it is.” Eren said not waiting for an answer as he walked towards the front door, only stopping to drop a kiss on Ella’s forehead.

Once he was gone Levi finished scrubbing his face raw and then made his way back to Ella. He took her out of the chair and walked her into the living room, sitting her on the floor in a circle of toys. He turned on the Tv and changed it to the kids station. He wanted to scream when the damn thing popped up with mind-numbingly annoying jingles of “Yo gabba gabba Yoooo” but when Ella started giggling and turned to the screen attentively he sighed and dragged his hands over his face. Fuck whoever invented this show. He hopes they get diarrhea and shit themselves if he’s being honest. He throws himself onto the couch in acceptance and aggravation. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

At four o’clock Levi had just pulled out his laptop when the front door slammed open.

“Honey, I’m home!” Eren called cheerily and Levi’s face darkened.

“If you don’t shut that shitty hole you call a mouth I will come over there and make you. I just got her to take a nap.” Levi glared at Eren.

“Someone is a bit testy today. What did your morning bath of chewed cereal not make your day better?” 

Levi glared harder, his eyes turning to blocks of ice and Eren flinched. Levi schooled his expression immediately. As annoying as the shit was he didn’t want him to be afraid of him. Levi turned back to his computer intending to get at least a chapter cranked out. Apparently Eren had other ideas. He flung himself into the nearby recliner and groaned loudly. Levi ignored him. After a few minutes of silence, Eren groaned again. Levi ignored him that time too. After ten minutes of silence, Levi thought he had finally been given peace and quiet from the kid. He was, of course, wrong.

This time Eren damn near moaned and whined all at once and that noise froze Levi in his tracks. The noise was far too sensual for Levi to handle and he immediately conjured up thoughts of Eren making those noises  _ under _ him instead of across the room. 

Eren opened his mouth to no doubt whine again but Levi cut him off knowing if he made another one of those goddamn noises he’d do something stupid. “What the hell crawled up your ass?” 

Eren glared at him, but Levi just gave him an unamused look “Don’t look at me like that. You’re the one that’s been moaning and groaning like an animal taking a dump for the past fifteen minutes.”

Eren laughed at that and Levi’s heart clenched and all he can think is “ _ Get ahold of yourself Ackerman _ ”. He’s pulled away from his thoughts by a stuttering Eren. He nearly rolls his eyes.

“I just… I’ve been thinking about this for awhile and I… Levi how-”

“Shit or get off the pot kid. I don’t have all day.”

Eren glared at him half-heartedly before taking a deep breath. “How are we going to do this? I mean I own and run a bakery that hopes to expand soon and you write books and we’re just two guys who have no clue what it means to raise a kid and Ella deserves the best… What if we’re not it?”

Levi shoots him a look of surprise before it melts into agitation. “You giving up on me already brat? Tch should’ve known it wouldn’t last. If you can’t handle this then get your shit and leave. I don’t need your help to raise  _ my _ niece.”

Eren was fine until he uttered those last few words. Levi almost cringed when they flew from his mouth, but once again he didn’t take them back.

Eren’s face was contorted with rage “ _ Your  _ niece?” He laughed bitterly. “In case you missed the whole meeting that landed us in this mess in the first place, they saw me as her uncle too. I don’t give a fuck what kind of stick you have up your ass that makes you so cold and assholish, but if you imply that she is not family to me, that they were not family to me, one more time I’ll pry whatever it is out with some goddamn jaws of life.” Levi nearly laughed at that but kept his face impassive while the brat took deep breaths.

“Now before you went and started being an asshole I was trying to ask how we’re going to do this.” He motioned with his finger between the two of us. “We obviously get under each other’s skin and not in a good way.”  _ Oh if only you knew brat _ . Levi thinks to himself, his lips twitching into a smirk. “But we have to make this work somehow because like it or not we have court coming up next month to finalize all this shit and once the judge bangs their damn gabble there’s no going back. So I’ll ask again. How are we going to do this Levi?”

Levi was a bit perturbed at the outburst but he let nothing show. He contemplated Eren’s words and as much as he loathed to admit it the shit was right. He sighed and moved his laptop to the side.

“Well… Farlan and..” His throat tightened up and he struggled to get her name out. “Isabel…” It still came out strangled and filled with emotion Levi would rather have locked away. “wanted Ella to grow up here. So one of us will have to raise her here. The other could get their own place and we could work out a custody schedule.” Levi gave Eren a meaningful look which he noticed immediately.

“If you think I’m going to move out and leave her here alone with you, you can forget about it.” Eren stated bluntly and Levi shot daggers at him. Eren’s eyes widened almost comically before he started waving his hands in front of his face erratically.

“Shit no that’s not what I meant. I meant that they were right when they said neither of us could do this alone. I mean you have a nervous breakdown anytime she gets bodily fluids on you and you have all sorts of deadlines to meet and I nearly panic at the mere thought of something happening to her while I’m alone with her plus I have a business to run…” He rambled on.  _ Cute _ . Levi thought before mentally shaking himself.

“Hey, Eren?” Levi called.

“Yea?”

“Shut up.” That earned him a glare that made him chuckle lowly. Eren shot him an odd look and Levi raised an eyebrow. The bright-eyed man flushed pink and shook his head.

Levi thought that a bit suspicious, but didn’t push it. Not like he cared anyway. 

“If you're done shitting yourself I’d like to speak.” Eren nodded. “Well, what I got from your never ending babble is that you're not moving out and from what I said before I know that you know that  _ I’m _ not moving out. So I guess we’re stuck with each other. As for getting under each other’s skin we’ll have to set some rules and hope for the best.”

Eren sat up a bit at that and nodded. “Okay. Rules. What kind?” 

“Number one clean up after yourself. If you leave messes around I will shove your face into them and make you clean it up with your tongue.”

Eren smirked at that “Kinky.” 

Levi startled a bit and his cheeks tinged with a light red hue. “Tch.” The last thing he needed was to be thinking about that. “Second rule we will always follow the chart. Anything that’s on it is basically the law. Rule number three, now you don’t look the type, but I know you’re a special type of idiot so I’ll say it anyways, no fucking drugs. That shit’s not cute.”

Eren looked taken aback. “I would never. You think I would after what Izzy went through?” 

Levi’s breath hitched. So he knows about that. He sighed deeply and pushed the thought away. That was a conversation for another time.

“Just being careful brat…” He shook himself. “Rule number four. I know we’re raising a child together, but don’t expect me to be all kind and open when it comes to you. This is about Ella, not about you wanting to get all nosy and personal. What I mean by that is think of this as a business relationship. Nothing more nothing less.” There he had said it. He had set a foundation for their relationship in this mess. And he meant it. It was easier like this. Where he could think about his relationship with Eren as nothing but business. Where he could deem it unprofessional and tactless to dream of those lips wrapped around his-  _ Tch. I just need to get laid. _

Eren looked confused and… Disappointed?  _ No, it can’t be disappointment. He’s just mad he can’t crack me open like a book and learn everything about me. Nosey little shit.  _ But damn if Levi doesn’t think Eren looked like someone kicked his puppy

Eren opened his mouth to say something but Levi pressed on quickly. “Fifth and final rule. I don’t care what time of night it is, do not bring some girl back here to fuck. Not only do I not wish to hear that type of shit, but knowing how loud you are on a day to day basis I can almost guarantee your loud as fuck in bed. You wake Ella up, you deal with her.” Levi nearly cringed at the words leaving his mouth. Like he needed more reason to think about Eren in bed.

Eren had turned an unsightly shade of red that made Levi’s lips twitch. Eren muttered something under his breath. “What was that brat? I can’t hear you over the blood rushing to your face.”

Eren’s head snapped up and he glared in that kitten like way. “I said I’m gay you absolute douche.”

Levi nearly choked on his own tongue at that. He tried to school his expression, but he was sure he looked constipated instead. He cleared his throat. “Look I don’t care what gets your rocks off kid. Just don’t get them off here okay?” He cursed mentally when he heard his voice come out strained.

The fire in Eren’s eyes intensified. “Look I get you’re an asshole, but I will not stand for _ that _ type of bigotry. Not even from you. Yea I like it up the ass so what? Doesn’t mean I want you up my ass, so don’t look so damn worried.”

Levi snorted “I pegged you for a bottom. Nice to see I’m right as always.”

Eren’s eyes widened at that. “What…? I- you?” 

“Don’t get too excited bright eyes. You just look the type. Anyway in answer to your stupidity, I may be an asshole, but I’m not a homophobe. Hard to be a bigot against something you are.”

Eren’s eyes widened again and Levi thought if they got any bigger he was going to drown in those stupid Caribbean eyes. _ Tch. I need to cut it out with the sappy shit.  _

“You mean you’re…” Eren floundered unable to say the words.

“Yes, I’m gay you shit.”

At that moment, a cry echoed from the kitchen where Ella had been sleeping soundly in her playpen and Levi sighed in relief. This conversation was draining him more and more each second. He turned to the still confused and slightly red Eren.

“I’ve had her all morning. Your turn. I’m going to go write till my fingers fall off. Call me once dinner is done hmm?” He said getting up from the couch to stretch.

He caught the younger man’s eyes dropping down to the exposed skin of his stomach and felt that heat rush through him again. He turned towards the stairs, laptop in hand, to hide the rising problem in his pants.

“Yes, sir.” Eren’s voice had an underlying sultry tone that Levi chose to ignore, but his dick perked up at. 

“Tch.” was all he said before fleeing up the stairs and into his room.

He shut the door behind him and leaned back against it. He glared down at his hard length. The damn shitty brat has turned me back into a hormonal piece of shit. Damn him. Levi glared even harder at his cock as if glaring would make it go away.

No, of course, the only thing to make it go away would be to rub one out or take a cold shower which did not sound appealing. But the first option was pretty much admitting defeat. “ _ Maybe if I just… Don’t think about him it’ll be okay. It's been too damn long since I’ve gotten off anyways. Yea I just won’t think about him.” _ He had himself half convinced as he slid his laptop on the desk before laying across his bed and snatching the lube he kept stored in his backpack. 

He shimmied out of his pants and boxers before squeezing a generous amount of lube onto his fingers. He hesitantly took his hard cock into his hands and shivered at the touch. He stroked lazily at first enjoying the sensation, before closing his eyes and setting a pace. He rubbed his thumb over the slit and groaned before biting his lip to keep more sounds from slipping out. 

_ Pretty, pink lips wrapped around his cock. Bright green eyes staring up at him. A slight hum vibrating around his cock as Eren fucks into his hand while sucking him off.  _ Levi jolts at the image behind his eyes _. Dammit no, don’t think about him. I literally just made a damn rule to stop this. _ He can’t help it, though. Rules be damned. He’s already in too deep. He strokes his length faster now, his breath coming out in short pants.

_ Tight heat wrapped around his length. Those little moans brushing across his lips. His voice crying out “Deeper” and “faster” as Levi sinks into his tight hole over and over. _

He’s stroking faster now and has somehow found himself bending his knees up to his chest, a finger probing at his entrance. He slides the digit in smoothing almost crying out at the feeling. It's been too damn long since he’s done this and he’s not going to last long.

He brushes his finger against that tight bundle of nerves inside him and all he sees behind his closed eyes is Eren. 

_ Snapping his hips to meet the bright-eyed man’s. Grinding into his prostate. His face as he strokes his cock while Levi is pounding into him. The whimpers building up. He cries out “Levi!” Before shooting white ropes across his toned stomach. _

And that’s all it takes for Levi. His back arches off the bed and he hides his moans behind a closed fist pressed to his lips. He’d never admit it but one of those moans sounds almost like a certain bright eyed brat’s name. He sits in post-orgasm bliss for a few minutes before the guilt and disgust roll into his stomach and he grimaces.  _ Tch. So much for not thinking about fucking the kid. Only took me five minutes to break that rule.  _ He thinks to himself.

He cleans himself up before laying back on his bed, an arm thrown over his face. So he’s attracted to the brat? So what? He’s been attracted to people before, so what’s so special about this brat? It those goddamn eyes. But no he knows that’s not it. Despite knowing what it's not he still can’t pinpoint what it is. He sighs. What had Farlan and Isabel been thinking? Why would they set up this unlikely pair to raise their own kid? Levi’s eyes fell on the unopened letter from the two in question and he sighed again. 

As easy as it would be to open it and try to get some answers for this fucked up situation. He couldn’t. It didn’t seem like the right time, hell maybe it never would be. He sighs for a third time, this time out of annoyance, and gets up. If anything was going to distract him it would be writing or cleaning and seeing how Levi had no desire to face Eren before he had to, he only had one other choice.

He pulls up the word document and sighs again, to his annoyance. If he thought he was fucked before, before imagining thrusting into the cocky little shit, before imaging what he would sound like moaning his name, before having damn near the best jerk off of his life, Levi was sure he was doubly fucked now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys aren't disappointed that it wasn't Levi/Eren smut :( But to be fair I did hint at it in the top notes! Don't hate me please lol! I hoped you enjoyed it nonetheless. Levi still hasn't quite grasped the fact that he has a slight crush on Eren and doesn't just want his ass, but oh well. We all know how stubborn Levi can be. Thanks again!


	4. An Unexpected Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi get an unexpected visitor and Levi realizes for the second time in his life that family is found in the strangest situations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned out to be the perfect length at just under 5k words. I don't know how some authors do 9k-12k chapters! I would die! More power to them though lol. Thanks for being patient and I hope it was well worth it. This chapter came out of nowhere and was unplanned just like the rest of this story, but I like the way it turned out and I like where this story is heading! Anyways go on read and enjoy!

_ Levi _

The next few weeks were painful for Levi to say the least. In his haste to deny any and all attraction to Eren, he had failed to realize that it had been at least a year and a half since his last sexual partner had left his bed and, at least, double that since his last relationship. As attractive as Levi was he was also picky. It was hard for him to find interest in someone, but finding someone interesting and clean enough to touch him. Now that was rare.

With this realization came the sexual awakening of his dick and he now cursed its existence on a near day to day basis. Sadly through all of this pent up sexual frustration, Eren got the brunt of Levi’s snark and aggravation and the kid didn’t even know he was the cause of it. Levi spent his days either watching Ella or writing and on the rare days that Eren and Levi both had nothing to do Levi either avoided Eren like the plague or did anything in his power to piss the brat off.

It just so happened to be one of those days and as Levi stretched out in his bed glaring at the sunlight pooling through the window, he struggled with the decision of which tactic he would use today. As he became more aware of his surroundings he sighed deeply before glaring down at the proud erection straining against his boxers. He felt like he was a fucking teenager again, having wet dreams and waking up with gross sheets or a hard on. He sucked his teeth in aggravation before standing up and stretching, wincing at his bones and muscles popping and aching. Getting old sucked.

Levi found himself taking a cold shower for what felt like the fiftieth time in the past three weeks. When he was done he got out and nearly growled at himself in anger. He was fucking stupid getting flustered over some dumb brat. Nonetheless, some dumb brat he had to live with and tolerate for the foreseeable future. Levi dragged his hands over his face and groaned. It was going to be a long seventeen years.

* * *

 

_ Eren _

        The last three weeks had been hell in Eren’s eyes. The bakery had been rolling in orders the closer they got to Christmas and just the thought of how many apple pies Eren was going to have to bake made him want to hide in the woods until the season had passed. In addition to work being hell, Levi had somehow found space in his busy schedule to antagonize him in any way possible. Whether it be making him scrub the same spot on the floor where he’d spilled coffee three times or ‘accidentally’ knocking into his arm when measuring out ingredients for dinner, making him fling flour everywhere (which he had to clean as well). Levi just knew how to get under Eren’s skin. 

Until a week ago Eren had been oblivious as to why Levi felt the need to either avoid or antagonize. Even now he wasn’t quite so sure, but he felt like he could read people decently enough and if those cold glares and snippy words were anything to go by Eren knew he’d turn out to be right. Levi hated him. Even tossing the thought around in his head made Eren nauseous. He knew he could be annoying and loud and just the slightest bit over the top, but he didn’t think that that warranted this unadulterated hatred he had somehow managed to receive from the older man. 

Eren laid there for a bit and thought about all of the things that had been said between the two of them since the accident. He scrunched up his nose as he realized how dickish he’d been to Levi. Now that he was thinking about it, he probably deserved the man’s hatred. Eren hadn’t been of much help when it came to dealing with the grief of losing Isabel and Farlan, besides caring for Ella equally. He knew it wasn’t his place to help Levi with his demons, but he felt compelled to even if he wasn’t sure why or how to go about doing so. And he knew that one of the rules of all this shit was to keep a business relationship, but fuck him if he didn’t think that was the most ridiculous thing to ever come out of Levi’s mouth.

They had to not only live together but raise a kid together for the next seventeen years and beyond. They had to be a family for another human, not a business partnership. The least they could do is try to be friends, but Eren feared that if he pushed too hard he’d end up losing Levi and Ella both and as much as Eren liked to think Levi brought out the worst in him, he knew he’d regret losing someone like him in his life. 

And there it was. That raw determination simmering in his gut. He had tried at many things in life and he had failed many things in life, but he didn’t face any challenge or goal without trying his damnedest to do what he had set out to and he knew this would be no different. If Levi hated him that was fine, but Eren wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

And with that thought, he was shooting off the couch and into the kitchen to make breakfast. He heard the shower cut on upstairs so he dashed back to the den area and snatched the baby monitor from the side table. He clipped it to his hip and set to the task of cooking for his small family. He was putting the plates on the table when he heard movement over the monitor. He turned to rush up the stairs but stopped when he heard Levi’s voice singing in a soft tone. 

“ _ Dodo, L'Enfant do, L’enfant dormer bien vite Dodo, L'Enfant do L’enfant dormira bientôt _ . Wake up sleepy head.” Eren smiled but was also curious as to how and why Levi knew how to speak French.

“Come on Ella sweetheart. Rise and shine.” Eren heard rustling nearer to the monitor and then it flipped off and static came through the receiver. 

Eren jumped as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. He clipped the turned off monitor onto his back pocket and continued putting food on plates and plates on the table. Until the doorbell rang. Eren’s brow furrowed and tried to think back and remember if he had made any plans with anyone. His eyes found the strategically planned calendar and eyed the date. Neither he nor Levi had penned in plans for today.

As Eren walked to the door he called out “I got it!” and hoped to god it wasn’t a boyfriend of Levi’s on the other side of the door, because god would that be awkward. “ _ Nice to meet you Levi’s boyfriend! I’m the gay guy your lover has to spend the next 17 years of his life with so that we can raise a child. Together.” _ Yea right, that would go over well. 

He almost hoped it was Armin or Mikasa on the other side, but then remember the last time he and Mikasa had spoken had been last week and she was still not keen on the choice he’d made when it came to Ella. She’d made her peace now though and it was inevitable that she’d pop up here soon.

But to Eren’s surprise, he opened the door to find a guy? No girl? A ah… person, he surmised, with big glasses, long pulled back hair, and a wide grin spread across their face. 

“Uh hi…?” Eren’s voice came up questioning and unsure.

“Oh! You must be Eren! I’m Hanji! Levi’s best friend in the whole world!” They, Hanji, swept him up into a tight hug and pulled him up off the ground. He coughed out in surprise at their strength. “Aren’t you just the cutest thing!” They put him down as quickly as they had picked him up and he winced as his feet hit the ground.

“Oi! Shitty glasses! Don’t kill the brat, I need him for the next several years apparently.” Levi called from behind Eren.

“Leeeeviiiii! Oh, my short, grumpy baby! I missed you so much. Did you miss me? Of course you did, I’ve been in Africa for six months! Why didn’t you tell me this co-guardian of Ella’s was so cute? Oh who cares! Come here!” Eren watched amazed and Hanji bounced around the foyer, talking one hundred miles a minute without Levi punching them square in the jaw. Levi even tolerated a tight side hug before pulling back and shifting Ella to the other hip. Eren must have still had a dazed and confused look on his face because Hanji looked from him to Levi and back before frowning.

“Aw Levi. I’m disappointed. You didn’t mention me a bit to this cutie did you?” Hanji pouted at Levi and Levi just sucked his teeth. 

“Well, I’ll do the honors then!” Hanji spun back to Eren and he nearly flinched at the crazed look in their eyes. “Well since this shorty is apparently not good for anything, I’m Hanji, I prefer they/them pronouns, I’m a scientist and a zoologist I love the furry things as much as the scaly things and the creepy things as much as the crawly things. I’m one-half of Levi’s best friend group even though he’s not likely to admit it. So how about you?” Hanji looked at Eren expectantly and he stared back just as dazed as before. 

He blinked a few time snapping himself out of it and smiled back at them. “Well Hanji, I just made breakfast and there’s extra. How about we all sit down so you and Levi can catch up.” Eren swooped in beside Levi and swiped a giggling Ella from his arms. “And so I can feed this little monster.” He said blowing a raspberry on Ella’s cheek which made Levi’s nose wrinkle up in either disgust or amusement, Eren couldn’t tell. 

“Sounds awesome!” He heard Hanji call behind him and he laughed before striding into the kitchen with an over-exuberant scientist and a grumpy writer on his heels.

Once they had all sat down, Levi across from Eren with Ella in between them and Hanji across from Ella, Hanji started babbling about all the different animals they had seen in South Africa. Levi shrugged or nodded at the appropriate times in the stories, but Eren hung on to every word. He’d never been further than Shangishina. He’d never seen the ocean or the mountains, and the only times he saw animals that weren’t household pets was when he went to the Sina city zoo. 

When Hanji finally stopped talking and asked about him Eren told them about Mikasa and Armin and how they were his family now. He told them about the bakery and they nodded saying that they had gotten many a pastry from his and Farlan’s shop before. He told them about how much he loved Ella, and somehow found himself slipping in there that he was quite fond of Levi too once he got past the ice like demeanor. Eren pretended he didn’t see the flush graze Levi’s cheeks or the way his eyes narrowed into slits at the same time. 

When plates had finally been cleared and Ella was begging to get out Eren stood to clear the plates at the same time Levi did and their hands brushed. Levi pulled back as if he’d been shocked, but his expression stayed neutral. Eren’s face grew hot, but the ice slid into his stomach like a weight. Levi was disgusted by him.

“Don’t worry I’ll get it. You get her alright? I want to talk to Hanji for a minute.” Levi’s voice was soft, but Eren knew better. Knew the aggravation was lurking just under the surface. So he nodded and turned his back to Levi and their guest to unbuckle Ella from her highchair. He pulled her up into his arms and grimaced at the oatmeal splattered in her hair.

“Come on you little food demon, let’s get you cleaned up.” He murmured at her while tickling her sides which made her laugh in delight. Hanji laughed too.

“She’s even more precious than the last time I saw her and looks more like Isabel with each passing day.” 

Levi and Eren both froze at that and Hanji did too after a moment, realizing their mistake. No one said anything for a long moment, but Eren had to break the silence before he broke down or went insane.

“I’ll be upstairs giving her a bath if you need anything Levi. And Hanji make yourself at home, even if Levi tells you not to.” He shot them both a shaky grin before shooting up the stairs with a giggling baby in his arms.

* * *

 

_ Levi _

A dizzying silence settled over Levi and Hanji after Eren had gone upstairs. Dizzying because silence and Hanji were rarely used in the same sentence, but Levi could feel the heaviness of it and he sighed. 

“How are you doing Levi?” He heard their voice call to him without the edge of energy it usually held.

“I’m fine shitty glasses.” Levi moved to pick up their plate from the table, but their hand shot out to grab his.

Levi forced himself to look anywhere but at them as he tried and failed to pull his hand away from Hanji’s. 

“Levi please.” He looked into their eyes and felt all of the fight go out of him. He set the plates down and pulled a chair up beside theirs before sitting down. Hanji released his hand and he took a minute to fish the hand sanitizer out from his pocket and drizzle it into his hand. He spoke softly as he rubbed the liquid between his hands. It was almost therapeutic to him.

“I’m losing it Hanji.” He didn’t want to say more, but he knew he should, knew it was okay to be vulnerable with them. Hanji knew every deep dark part of him almost as much as Erwin. He took a deep breath.

“I keep waking up in their house expecting it all to be a dream. I walk into the kitchen hoping to see Izzy with her arms full of Ella and Farlan pulling cookies out of the oven. I walk into the den expecting Izzy to be curled up reading one of my books and for her to look up at me and grin and say 'Don’t interrupt big bro this is my  _ favorite _ part.' and man Hanji… I’m fucking losing it.” 

“But you have Eren to help you right? I know you two weren’t really anything more than acquaintances before, but you’ve been sharing a house for almost two months now. You’re helping each other right?” 

Levi scowled before it faded into a mask of sorrow and regret. “I… no we haven’t… I haven’t… Shit.” He ran a hand through his hair in annoyance and slid down in his chair. “We help each other with Ella, but not with that, not with the grief. He seems fine with it all in all honesty. Wish I could bounce back from a loss like he can.” He spat bitterly.

Hanji gasped “Levi Ackerman I swear to the gods you’re about as oblivious as he is. If his reaction after my slip up is anything to go by he’s hurting. I wasn’t very close to Farlan, but I saw Eren with him a few times at the bakery and you know as well as I do that they were like brothers as much as you were like a brother to Isabel. He’s hurting and if your comments are anything to go by I’d venture to say you’ve been making it worse for him.”

Levi groaned and buried his face in his hands. Logically he knew Eren was hurting just as much as Levi, but Levi couldn’t help but be envious of how capable Eren was over smiling and carrying on as if nothing happened while his grief ate at him from the inside out. And here Levi had been tormenting the poor kid all because his dick didn’t want to stay in his pants. He groaned again.

“Hanji…”

“Yes, my small grumpy gremlin?” Levi glared at them but felt his usual shit inducing glare falling flat. 

He sighed. “I fucked up.” 

“I’m gonna need more than that if you want me to help Levi.” 

He groaned again. “I… I’ve been tormenting the brat for weeks now and I just now realized that I’m probably making his life a living hell. He’s just so… so…” Levi struggled to find the right word.

“Cute? Tempting? Absolutely drop dead gorgeous?”

“Hanji.” Levi growled and they grinned before raising their hands up in a gesture of surrender. Levi started again. “He’s just so bothersome. There’s something about him that just gets under my skin and there's something about me that fires up this passion and sometimes fury in his eyes and I just… I just wanted to I don’t know…”

“Push him away?” Hanji spoke softly and Levi’s head shot up. “Levi I know you have every reason not to trust people, to let them in, and I know you’re scared of any type of closeness with anyone who isn’t me or Erwin or Isabel, but Izzy… she’s gone Levi and I know that hurts. It hurts me so much and I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for the wake, I only just got the news two weeks ago. The phones were down at the reserve for awhile and when I heard I broke… But Levi you have to raise a child with that man. And not just any child, Isabel, and Farlan’s child. Do you really want Ella to grow up with her two guardians hating each other's guts just because one of them is too grumpy and stubborn to let someone in?”

Levi was loathe to admit it, but Hanji was right. What good would them terrorizing each other do? It would just end up ripping apart what little family Ella had left. And he had told the brat that this was all business, but he knew better. This was family whether he liked it or not. 

He sighed again. “I told him that we should think about this situation as a business partnership and nothing more.” 

Hanji laughed. “Trust you to say something so stupid about something so important. Tell him you changed your mind, talk to him, learn things about him, make a friend Levi. Eren could be good for you, there’s something about you two that just seems so charged and raw. I’m not saying you have to tell him all your deep dark secrets tomorrow, but if you hope to build any type of family for that little girl Eren’s where you start.” Hanji leaned in closer and whispered in his ear. “And if you ask me I don’t think Eren will mind getting a little  _ closer _ . He did mention how oh so fond he is of you.” They leaned back and winked.

Levi fought the blush taking over his cheeks, but to no avail. Hanji cackled at him and he glared back before sighing for what felt like the thousandth time in the past few months. “You’re right Hanji. I’ll apologize to the brat.”

Hanji smiled “Yes you will.”

“Tch. Help me with these dishes shitty glasses.”

Halfway through their clean up, Eren came bouncing down the stairs with a clean Ella in tow. She was squirming and crying and Levi almost threw Eren a glare and a threat before he remembered his talk with Hanji. Hanji seemed to remember their talk at the same time because they stepped away from the sink and wiped their hands before skipping away towards Eren.

“Here swap with me. I can calm her down.” Eren looked at me before shrugging and handing Ella to Hanji with a bit of difficulty.

“Come on you wiggly worm let's watch some cartoons. I do an astounding impression of Elmo!” Hanji said carrying a still crying Ella away into the den, but not before she shot Levi a meaningful look which he answered with a glare.

Once they had retreated into the living room and Eren and Levi could hear the faint murmurs of Sesame Street the two men started to wash dishes in silence. Levi itched to say something, anything, to bridge this gap he had created between them, but his mouth was dry and all of the words he wanted to say sounded empty in his head. He glanced over at Eren to see him scowling at the water a look of determination on his face. Levi sighed and found the courage to speak.

“Hey, Eren?”

“Hey, Levi?”

They spoke at the same time and Eren laughed. Levi’s heart sped up at the sound and he felt the corners of his lips twitch into a half smile. 

“You first?” Eren said and Levi nodded.

“I uh… I wanted to apologize for my rude behavior the past few weeks… Well, I guess longer than that. I just have a hard time getting used to new people and sometimes I feel the need to make them hate me so they’ll leave me alone and I just realized… I just…” He growled and flushed. He couldn’t remember being this flustered in his life and it irked him to no end. He wanted to backtrack and spit something hateful at the brat. So he looked up into those teal eyes intending to do just that.

He stopped in his tracks when his eyes met Eren’s. He’d seen those eyes filled with so many emotions. Usually, when Eren looked at Levi they were filled with annoyance, or anger and sometimes mirth or amusement on a good day, but now they were filled with understanding, and passion, and… and acceptance. Levi blew out a long breath and felt his heart pounding against his chest. Eren reached out to touch Levi, but he thought better of it and snatched his hand back with a sheepish grin.

“It's okay Levi I understand. Business as usual alright?” He grinned at him and tilted his head to the side in that puppy dog way Levi found so endearing it nearly made his heart burst. He was tempted to nod and say ‘Yea business as usual brat’ but he couldn’t. He needed to let Eren in, to let him know he wasn’t alone.

“No. Not business as usual Eren. What I’m trying to say is I was wrong about being able to treat this like a business partnership or some bullshit. We’re all Ella has now and the last thing she needs is to have her two uncles being so closed and professional towards each other. We have to be a family for her… and for each other. I know we didn’t get off to the best start and we don’t really know each other that well, but I’m tired of struggling alone Eren and I thought that maybe just maybe you are too.”

This time, Eren didn’t stop himself from touching Levi. He threw his lanky arms around the shorter man’s shoulders and tugged him close. Levi tensed up at the contact before realizing none of the alarms were going off in his head. He leaned into the embrace just slightly and wrapped one arm around Eren. 

“I’m so  _ so _ tired of struggling alone Levi. You have no idea… I just… damn, I thought you hated me. I wanted to help you I just didn’t know how.” 

Levi pulled back slightly. “You thought I hated you?” Maybe he had gone a bit too far. The guilt curled in his stomach again.

“Maybe… It's hard to tell with you. You’re so stoic, so emotionally unavailable. You’re hard to read.” Eren grinned sheepishly.

“Tch. If I hated you, you’d know it. If anything you irk me to no end, but that’s it.”

Eren furrowed his brow at that. “Not in a bad way brat.”

He snorted “How does one irk someone in a  _ good  _ way.” 

“By being an obnoxious, bright-eyed brat apparently,” Levi smirked.

Eren threw his head back and laughed and Levi swore he’d do anything to hear that sound every single fucking day. He tensed at the thought and pulled back from the embrace. Eren’s face flashed with worry and Levi had no intentions to scare him off right when they’d reached a more appropriate understanding so he ruffled the bright-eyed man’s hair and fought the urge to tangle his fingers in the chestnut brown locks.

“Down look so downtrodden kid. I can’t waste my whole day cuddling you in front of some dirty ass dishes.”

Eren laughed again and this time, Levi smiled in return and Eren stopped and stared with a starstruck look on his face.

“What brat? You shit your pants or did your brain finally quit on you?”

Eren shook his head and laughed again before drying off the dish he was holding. “Nothing. You just have a nice smile is all. You should do it more often.” He murmured quietly before putting the last dish up in the cabinet.

Levi’s face flushed red and he was glad Eren had turned his back to him so he didn’t see Levi blushing like a schoolgirl. He sucked his teeth and muttered a “Shitty brat” before drying off his hands.

Hanji peeked her head around the door frame a few minutes later and grinned at them. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything but I have to go and I didn’t want to leave Ms. Ella alone.”

Eren smiled “No you’re fine Hanji, just finishing up some cleaning. Do you want me to walk you out?” 

“Oh, such a gentleman! I’d tell you to keep him Levi, but you’re already stuck with him so there’s no point. But no thank you Eren I think Levi can handle it.” Hanji grinned at Levi and he glowered back.

“I have no desire to walk your shitty ass out to your shitty car. You can get out there fine by yourself. You made it to the door alone after all.”

Eren gasped, but had a teasing smile on his face “Levi! That’s no way to treat your  _ best _ friend. Come on Hanji let us go and leave Mr. Grumpy to scowl at the wall.” 

Hani cackled with delight and rushed to Eren’s side. Levi rolled his eyes at the two of them before he walked into the living room to find Ella. He found her in the stand and play toy gurgling happily with a teething ring between her gums. He ruffled the ever-growing locks of auburn and smiled.

“And if you need anything here’s my number! Whether it be a babysitter, a friend, or someone to talk to about Small, Dark, and Grouchy Hanji is always here to help!” Levi growled which made Ella giggle.

“Hanji if you don’t leave this instant I will eviscerate you.”

“Big words for such a small shrimp.” They chimed back and he heard Eren laugh.

Levi threw himself on the couch and listened to the two in the foyer laughing and talking before he finally heard the door open and shut.

Eren came back in a few minutes later and sat in the recliner. “I like your friend.” He grinned.

“You won’t be saying that after she calls you at 3 am because she read some sob story about abused tigers or some shit.”

“That’s sad Levi.”

“Not after you’ve been drinking and all you want is some damn sleep and when you don’t answer she comes pounding on your door. And it's not even the first time that it's happened. It stopped being sad around the tenth time.”

Eren laughs and Ella laughs at him laughing which causes Levi to laugh because the two of them look so damn happy and that’s all he wants for Ella. And if he lets himself think about it, he wants that for Eren too. Without his dick getting in the way of things he realizes there’s a lot more to Eren than a pretty face and a nice ass and something about that excites Levi even if he won’t admit it.

When the laughing stops Ella goes back to squealing happily at the TV and Eren sighs happily and curls up in the recliner and Levi thinks for the first time in almost two months, that maybe just maybe his happiness didn’t die with his sister. Maybe there’s some family left to salvage after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely L. O. V. E. Writing Hanji. The scenes with them are by far some of the easiest and most fun to write. I went with gender neutral Hanji because as a fan of Snk I really don't want to perceive them as something they weren't intended to be. If this offends anyone or I write it wrong let me know, I've never written for a gender neutral character. Anyways if you're still reading this thanks for reading and maybe drop a comment below and tell me your thoughts? Anyways see you guys next chapter!


	5. Mishaps & Misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically, filler domestic, fluff because I needed some happy in this fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back with another long(ish?) chapter that is pretty much fluff and introspection. Trigger warning for panic attacks!! Just so you know! And can I just say thank you for 600+ hits and 60+ kudos already! You guys are awesome :)  
> Well go on then, I won't keep you here to listen to me babble! Read on :)

Nightmares are not a new occurrence for Levi though it's been several years since he had them so regularly he’s used to him in a sad sort of way. So when he wakes up one morning in a sheen of sweat and Isabel’s name on his lips he’s not surprised. He’s had several bad dreams since the accident, most of which include him driving the car that crashes into his sisters. He glances at the clock and is despondent to see it's only barely 6 am. He knows he won’t find sleep again today. 

Levi feels like his skin is crawling now that he’s awake and aware of the sweat cooling on his skin. He shudders involuntarily and scratches at his hair, disgusted to find that it too is wet with sweat. He peels himself away from his sheets and wants to scratch away his skin in an effort to make the grime go away. He settles for a shower instead. 

After nearly an hour of standing in scorching hot water and scrubbing his skin raw with half a bottle of soap, he feels marginally better. Once he’s dressed he finds his feet taking him down the stairs, past a living room that is filled with the sounds of Eren’s light snoring, and into the dark kitchen. He busies himself with the coffee maker for a moment and leaves it to do its job while he checks their calendar.

He’s surprised to see Eren has the day off considering it's a weekday and he has been tirelessly working day after day on keeping the shop together since Farlan is no longer there to help. He also even more surprised to see he has an early afternoon appointment with his publisher in Trost, the next city over. It's the first one he’s had since the accident and while he’s been out of the house a few times since the funeral, it's all been short trips to the nearest supermarket or gas station. 

He feels nervous knowing he’ll have to be away from the house for more than a half hour. More importantly, he’s worried about leaving Ella in Eren’s hands while he’s forty-five minutes away. It's not that he doesn’t trust Eren, he’s just always been a few feet away whenever it was Eren’s turn to watch over Ella. Logically he knows Eren is more than capable of taking care of Ella alone for a few hours, hell he’s probably more capable than Levi is being the babysitter before the guardian and all of that. But thinking logically is not soothing to Levi as it usually is.

He doesn’t realize he’s practically glaring at his now lukewarm cup of coffee until a voice calls to him.

“If you glare any harder the cup might explode Levi.”

Levi turns his glare on Eren expecting him to back away in surrender like he used to, but instead he laughs and his eyes sparkle and suddenly Levi isn’t glaring, but smiling instead and rolling his eyes. He hasn’t quite gotten used to this silent camaraderie between them, but he can’t say he hates it. It's comfortable in a way Levi is not used to and as much as he hates to admit it the house is almost peaceful now that they’ve come to terms with each other.

Eren takes up his post at the stove and starts to pull pans down for the rack above the island in the middle of the room. “So what’d the coffee do to warrant such blatant hatred?” 

Levi takes a sip from said coffee and his nose wrinkles up as the chilled mocha slides down his throat. “It got cold.” 

Levi doesn’t want to tell Eren why he’d been glaring. He doesn’t want the brat to think he doesn’t trust him not when they’ve just come to an understanding. He hears Eren laugh and he tunes back into the real world.

“Only you would get mad at the natural order of things. Would you like me to get you a fresh cup before I start breakfast?” 

Levi makes a noncommittal noise that Eren takes as a ‘yes’ apparently since he’s already halfway through pouring a cup before Levi answers. Eren places the cup in front of Levi without sugar or cream and his heart swells a little at the realization that Eren knows how Levi takes his coffee. He’s halfway through the cup before he realizes it's 6:45 am and Eren is up and making breakfast like it's an everyday occurrence that he’s up at the ass crack of dawn.

“What the hell are you doing up so early?” Levi asks and Eren looks over his shoulder at him.

“I could ask you the same thing, but I have a feeling I don't get an answer.” 

Levi rolls his eyes and Eren laughs again and goes back to shuffling something sizzling around in a pan, and whisking some sort of batter. “I’m up because I heard you up and came to make sure you were alright. Instead, I found you glaring down a cup of coffee and decided you looked like you could use some Jaeger famous pancakes.” He tosses a smile over his shoulder and Levi’s heart speeds up as he pretends that it definitely  _ isn't _ endearing that Eren is making pancakes for  _ him _ . 

It's silent for a moment because Levi is still confused on why Eren needed to see if he was alright and why he thought Levi glaring at an inanimate object was grounds for thinking Levi absolutely needs pancakes to make it all better. 

“So why were you really glaring at the coffee?” Eren asks softly after a few moments.

Levi fights the urge to make a sarcastic comment or bite back bitterly that it's none of Eren’s business because Levi had promised he’d stop doing that. So instead, he sighs and gets up to pour more coffee. 

He doesn’t speak until he’s sure his back is to Eren and Eren’s back is to him. “I had a nightmare. So I came down here to pass the time. I have a meeting with my publisher today and I was… concerned with leaving you and Ella here alone while I’m almost an hour away.” 

He hears Eren turn around and Levi waits for Eren to start yelling at Levi to trust him so he doesn’t turn to face him. He busies himself with stirring his coffee even though there’s nothing to stir into it. He’s on edge and he’s sure Eren can tell, but still he doesn’t face him, doesn’t want to see the anger seep back into those bright eyes.

But of course, Levi should’ve learned by now that Eren is full of surprises and is not, in fact, some hotheaded brat, but a reasonable, understanding young man. So when he feels strong arms encircle his waist he’s not really surprised, not as much as he should be at the sudden contact.

“I know you think I’m going to be mad, but I’m not, I understand. It's not that you don’t trust me, you don’t trust yourself or the situation. You’re scared that you’ll come back and we’ll be gone too. Which is silly, but understandable nonetheless. You know we’ll be okay and so will you. It just for a few hours.” Eren is murmuring quietly like he’s trying to talk down a wounded, scared animal.

Levi wants to rip away from the embrace and scream that he’s  _ not _ scared. That he’s absolutely  _ not _ worried for Eren. That he absolutely only cares about Eren’s ability to take care of Ella and  _ not _ his ability to take care of himself as well, but Levi has already learned once this morning that Eren can tell when he’s lying. 

Instead, he sighs, nods and leans back into his friends embrace because that’s what they are right? Friends. You can’t share a child, a house, an embrace, a life without being friends at the very least. Levi mentally scoffs at his stupidity to have thought they could be anything less that. 

“Don’t lie to me anymore Levi, please. I said I wanted to help you, and I meant it. Now stop worrying and come eat some pancakes and bacon.” And just like that Eren is pulling his arms away from Levi’s waist.

He doesn’t realize what he’s doing until he’s done it and he doesn’t miss the shocked gasp that slips from Eren’s mouth as he pulls his arms back around his waist firmly.

“Thank you.” Levi whisper’s and he means it. Levi is thanking him for so much, for his patience, for caring, for wanting to help, for taking all of this on to begin with, Levi is thankful for it all.

Eren squeezes around his waist and drops his head to the back of Levi’s and murmurs a quiet “Don’t mention it.” 

Eren goes to pull back again and Levi doesn’t stop him, having more than enough of his share of physical contact and emotional discussions to last him a week. Levi turns to watch Eren retreat back to the stove, but Eren catches his eye.

“And about the nightmares, I get them too.” He murmurs before turning sharply and fleeing back to his work space and piling food on top of platters. 

Levi is in a stunned silence for about a minute before the lovely sounds of a child crying break the morning silence and he sighs and shakes his head as if it will shake the thoughts from it. He leaves Eren in the still awkward state that he’s in and climbs the stairs. He enters Ella’s room and swiftly sweeps her up into his arms before smoothing her hair down and bouncing her gently to soothe her cries.

She quiets quickly and Levi thanks his lucky stars for the millionth time in the past few months that she a relatively happy baby. Her soft whimpers start up again and Levi attributes it to the nose-numbing stench emanating from her diaper. Levi grimaces but deposits her onto the changing table nonetheless. He snags a pair of gloves from the box of disposable ones that have taken residence beside the wipes since Levi had taken up residence in the house. 

When he’s done the gloves are tossed into the waste basket and Ella is wiggled into a new outfit. He swings her up into the air and places a raspberry kiss on her little tummy and cracks a smile when she giggles loudly. She wiggles her gangly limbs awkwardly all the way down the stairs and Levi huffs in a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Ella has much preferred crawling to being held here lately and Levi starts to wonder if it's weird that she hasn’t tried to walk yet and resolves to ask Eren what he thinks.

He finds Eren where he left him, but now instead of two or three pancakes on the platter, there’s a whole stack. After wrestling a wiggling Ella into her highchair Levi huffs and sits down at his place. Eren saunters over with the stack of pancakes and bacon in one hand and a plate of meticulously cut pancakes in the other. He sets the cut pancakes in front of Ella and Levi shoots him a wary glance.

“Can she eat that?” 

Eren shoots him a weird look.”Yes?” 

“Well, it's just… She’s a baby shouldn’t she just eat baby food and stuff?”

Eren’s eyes widen “Don’t tell me you’ve just been feeding her baby food, Levi.”

“Well…” 

Eren throws his head back and laughs causing Ella to tear her gaze and attention from the tiny pieces of pancakes stuffed in her chubby hands and giggle at him. Eren laughs more at her laughing and Levi watches as he gazes at her adoringly before piling up his own plate with flapjacks and bacon.

“Levi, how much do you know about kids?”

Levi thinks on it for a moment before sheepishly responding “Not much.”

Eren shakes his head in amusement. “Ella has had teeth for months now. Haven’t you sweetheart?” The question is laced with affection and Ella babbles back nonsensically. “I mean she won’t be eating steak and potatoes anytime soon, but some pancakes or eggs, hell even some finely diced spaghetti, is fine.” Levi nods and absorbs the information slightly embarrassed with his lack of knowledge.

It must show because there is suddenly a hand atop Levi’s squeezing reassuringly. “Hey, it's okay. I don’t know much either, I’m just working off babysitting knowledge, to be honest.”

Levi nods again. “So… is it weird that she isn’t walking yet?”

Eren takes a thoughtful pause before answering “I’m… I’m not really sure.”

Levi groans and starts to fill up his own plate. He resolves to pick up a parenting book or two while he’s in Trost and tells Eren the same. His first bite of the pancakes causes an almost lewd moan to slip through his lips and he doesn’t miss the way Eren’s face flushes and the sound, but he recovers quickly and grins.

“Do you need a minute alone with your food?” He asks cheekily.

“Shut the fuck up. What did you put in these things, crack?” Levi asks and takes another bite.

“I can’t tell you. It's a Jaeger family secret.” Eren winks and Levi busies himself with the glorious stack of pancakes in front of him instead of the feeling of heat rising in his cheeks.

When they’re finished eating it's 8 and Levi doesn’t have to leave until 10 so he takes the job of cleaning the dishes while Eren goes upstairs to clean the Ella that has somehow managed to mash chewed pancake into her hair and has sticky syrup in her ears and bellybutton which both astounds and disgusts Levi.

Levi finishes the dishes before Eren finishes giving Ella a bath so he decides to grab his laptop and go over the things he’s written since he last spoke to his publisher. He’s two pages into his fifty-page progress when Eren walks in with a clean and wiggling Ella. He plops her down right in front of the TV and turns on some cartoons for her to watch, but Levi knows Eren loves cartoons as much as she does so he rolls his eyes. 

They sit in silence, Levi on one end of the couch and Eren on the other. Ella is crawling all around the room and they both have to get up every so often to reroute her path back to the center of the room or get her out of something she shouldn’t be getting into. Levi shifts uncomfortably on the couch and groans. The couch is not the most comfortable and he finds himself wondering how Eren manages to sleep on it every night. So he asks him.

Eren grimaces “This is the couch from hell and you’re just now realizing it?” 

Levi feels guilty for the first time for taking the guest room while Eren has no room for any of his things and not even a futon or pull out bed to sleep on.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t realize.” Levi murmurs.

Eren’s eyes soften “Hey it's fine. It's not so bad.”

Levi tries to believe him, but suddenly he’s recalling all of the times Eren has bent over and made a face or has stretched in the morning light and groaned in pain as his bones popped. 

The words are out of his mouth before he can regret them “We could… rearrange their room.”

Eren looks taken aback. It's been an unspoken rule that no one touches their room and now Levi is saying that not only is it ok to step into their room, but to change it completely and give it to him. Levi can see the hesitance in his eyes.

“Look Eren leaving their room how it is won’t bring them back… and you’re uncomfortable in here. You can’t sleep on a couch for the next however many years. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”

Ella is giggling in the background as Eren turns his head away from Levi. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you,” Levi says quietly and he curses inwardly because here he is fucking everything up again.

Eren turns to him with tear stained cheeks and Levi is taken aback for a moment. “Hey don’t cry I’m sorry. I’m stupid as fuck I should just keep my mouth shut.”

Eren shakes his head. “No. no. Please don’t. I just…” He trails off and bites his lip. “I miss them.”

Levi’s heart is ripped apart by sadness. He grieves every day for his lost sister. He thinks about her at night and in the morning. He hears her voice in the halls of her house and her laugh in Ella’s whenever she giggles. And hell Levi feels like a piece of shit for thinking that Eren wasn’t going through all of this too.

Levi is not great with words. Not when they have to be spoken aloud. If he writes them down they flow through him like a natural current, but when they have to leave his tongue he’s less than graceful. He’s just as bad at comforting a person, but nonetheless, he finds his arms wrapping around Eren somewhat awkwardly and stiff. 

“I miss them too. Every day.” He murmurs and feels Eren shudder a bit in his arms.

For someone who up until a while ago wanted to lock Eren out and throw away the key Levi thinks he’s doing, at least, decent at this whole friendship thing. Apparently Eren thinks the same because he looks up with watery eyes and smiles before wrapping his arms around Levi.

“Thank you.” Eren whispers and Levi feels his cheeks redden. He avoids eye contact with the younger man and shrugs before pulling away awkwardly.

But Eren is pulling him back again, in a somewhat reversed position of earlier this morning, and yelling excitedly “Levi look!”

And Levi scans the room to see what he’s freaking out about. He’s almost flying out of his seat when his eyes find Ella standing in front of the coffee table. It's not the first time she’s stood, of course, she’s been pulling herself up by grabbing the table, or the couch, or anything really, for weeks, but now she’s not holding onto the table, instead, she’s facing away from it staring at the TV and she has a foot out as if she’s about to take a step.

The two men fly off the couch, intending to coax her into taking her first steps but instead, they startle her and she falls back and hits her head on the table. There’s a breath of silence and then there’s an ear-piercing wail. Eren recovers first and strides to the fallen child and sweeps her up into his arms. Levi recovers next and is a small flurry of worry as he checks the back of Ella’s head for any life threatening injury. He finds nothing but a red spot that will probably become a nice bump by tomorrow, but he’s scared. What if there’s internal bleeding or a concussion? What if she fell so hard it shook her fragile brain and she has damage that can’t be reversed? What if she does that again and knocks herself out? Suddenly the room feels a bit too small and like its lacking a good air flow.

Levi stumbles back to the couch and sits gasping for air. He hasn’t had an anxiety attack since a week after the accident, but this one isn’t nearly as bad. Yet still he’s clutching at his chest and  _ work you damn lungs work _ because he really,  _ really _ can’t fucking breathe.

He doesn’t realize how quiet it's gotten until there’s a hand on his shoulder and he shrinks away from the touch because it's him, it has to be him and Levi can’t take it if he’s back to fuck him up some more. But a quick glance tells him it's just Eren and he’s looking at him with so much concern and affection that Levi almost immediately starts to calm down until his eyes find Ella and he’s panicking all over again.

“Can’t breathe.” He gasps out and Eren is there in an instant.

He shifts Ella to one leg and pulls Levi into his side. There are fingers in Levi’s hair and lips pressed to his hair as well.

“Shh, it's okay. Just breath for me okay? Just in and out.” Eren is murmuring into his hair and Levi is shaking at his touch.

“In. Out.” 

Levi finally gets ahold of the control on his lungs and gulps in a deep breath like a drowning man.

“There you go. Keep doing that for me. In. Out. You’re doing so well Levi.”

The comforting words and the inflection of care coming from Eren’s mouth does the trick and Levi feels very tired now.

“See all better. You’re okay and Ella is okay. Do you want to hold her?” Eren asks and Levi nods.

Eren shifts Ella into Levi’s arms and moves to back away, but Levi panics and he pulls Eren back to him. They sit like that for a bit and when Levi finally calms down he feels too embarrassed for words. He fucked up again. He had a panic attack in front of Eren and now he thinks Eren must realize how pathetic Levi actually is.

He shoves away from Eren quickly, shocking the other man. He juggles Ella as he tries to get his bearings and Eren is watching him with concerned eyes once more.

“Hey what’s wrong?” 

But Levi’s eyes are darting around looking for any sort of escape. He finds it as he glances at the clock and sees it's half past ten and he’s not even close to being ready to leave. 

“Late.” Is all Levi says as he sits Ella down carefully in the middle of her toys? He leaves the room, not able to meet Eren’s eyes, and rushes up the stairs.

* * *

Levi leaves at 11 on the dot. Throwing a goodbye over his shoulder and a reminder to  _ call him _ if anything happens. He hears a muffled ‘wait!” Through the door, but he’s already walking towards his car. On the drive to Trost, he calls Erwin and Hanji both to distract himself from his thought. Hanji babbles on about the new job they’d landed at Sina zoo and how the lion named Bean (of all things) tried to take a chunk out of their hair the first day. The chat with Erwin is much less interesting with the question of  _ How are you, Levi? _ And _ No how are you really? _ Levi suddenly remembers why he’s been avoiding the therapist for the past few months.

He finds himself in the building of Maria publishing faster than he thought and ends up being ten minutes early, but Rico, punctual as always, is already ready for him when he reaches the tenth floor. They talk for some time , revising and storyboarding. He tells her where he wants the book to go and she revises with ‘ _ okay but what if this happened?’ _ Levi knew he liked Rico for a reason. He hands off a flash drive of what he’s completed so far before he leaves and Rico hands him the notes she had been scrawling down. They part ways with a handshake and a promise of contacting with more progress soon.

Before Levi leaves the room there’s a quiet “Wait Levi.”

He turns to face Rico and raises a brow in question. She looks uncomfortable, which is an odd look for the stoic and calculating woman. Levi realizes what she’s about to say before she says it, but can’t get the words out fast enough.

“I’m sorry for what happened. To your sister.” She says quietly and Levi nods before striding out of the room without another word.

Levi revs the engine of his car in aggravation and starts towards the closest bookstore. The bookstore in question comes in the form of a quaint, homey amalgamation of bookstore and cafe. Levi thinks if he was some college kid he’d find it a lot more wistful than his 32, cynical self. It takes him a bit to find the parenting section, but when he does he’s lost as to what he should be looking for.

“May I help you with anything sir?” A slightly high voice asks from behind him and Levi turns.

“Yes, I- Wait Arlert?” Levi says in confusion as his eyes find the taller, blond haired man.

“Oh hey! Levi! How have you been? Are Eren and Ella with you?”

“Don’t shit yourself kid. No, they’re not here. Eren’s at home watching Ella. I had a meeting.”

Armin looks a bit crestfallen, but perks back up so fast it nearly gives Levi whiplash. “Well then what can I help you with?”

“Uh… parenting books. Neither I nor Eren knows what the fuck we’re doing so…” Levi feels a bit awkward telling an almost stranger, well more of an acquaintance, that he has had a child in his possession for more than two months and still has no clue what he’s doing. But Armin doesn’t even blink and pulls him to a shelf a few feet away. The blonde starts pulling several books off the shelf and speaking so fast Levi almost thinks it's a foreign language.

“This is for toddler years, I’m no expert but the ‘terrible two’s’ stage is hell to go through I’ve heard. This is for nutrition and health. This is behavioral studies. And this is specifically for parents and what  _ they _ should do for themselves despite having a child.” 

Levi is in shock for a few seconds but is quickly pulled out of it when Armin shoves the four thick books into Levi’s arms. “Uh, thanks?”

Armin has the decency to blush “Sorry, I get a little too enthusiastic about books and learning.”

Levi snorts “You and Dr. Eyebrows would get along great.”

Armin looks at him curiously but doesn’t ask. He leads him to the cashier counter and Levi places the books on top when he feels his pocket start vibrating. He fishes it from his pocket expecting it to be Erwin or god forbid Hanji but is surprised and slightly anxious to see its Eren. He answers it.

“Eren?”

“Levi! Oh, thank god you answered!” Eren sounds frantic and Levi’s heart drops.

“Where are you? Are you okay?” He asks frantically and then more frantically “Where’s Ella?!”

Levi is on the verge of another panic attack and all he can think is  _ oh god not here _ . Armin is looking at him wide eyed and worried, but he gathers what little sanity he has left and focuses on Eren’s voice.

“Levi no, no. It's okay! Well, there’s something but- Ella no sweetheart stay still please!”

“What the fuck is going on brat?!” Levi has no more patience to give and he is getting increasingly irritated and the bright-eyed man.

“She’s- Ella please!" He draws out the 'e' in please. "She’s trying to walk, but I didn’t want you to miss it! So I’m trying to get her to stop.”

Levi relaxes at that but immediately looks to Armin who has finished ringing up his books and is looking at him questioningly.

“I’ll be there soon. Keep her butt on the ground.” Levi hangs up without waiting to hear a response.

He pulls out his wallet and almost violently swipes the card through the machine. “Hurry up Arlert. I got a kid at home that’s trying to mobilize herself and a brat that’s panicking.”

Armin laughs and punches some stuff on the computer before handing him a receipt “Go on then. Tell Eren I said hi and tell him to answer my damn calls.” Levi nods and grabs the bag before sprinting out of the store.

* * *

 

Levi might just believe in a god because there is no other way he makes it home in twenty-five minutes without getting pulled over. He’s barely put the car in park before he yanking the keys out and flying out the door. When he flies through the front door he’s momentarily confused. The Tv in the living room is off and Eren is sitting on the couch with a book in hand and Ella is nowhere in sight.

“Eren what the fuck?” 

Eren jumps and looks at him before his eyes widen “Levi?! How did you get here so fast!” 

“Don't ask me questions. Where the fuck is Ella.”

Eren looks sheepish as he grins and reaches up to rub the back of his neck. “Oh, that. Well, you see… She uh… False alarm?” 

Levi’s gaze narrows for a split second, but then he’s laughing. Not just a chuckle or a huff of laughter, full on bent at the stomach laughing. Eren looks confused, but then he looks delighted and he starts to laugh too. After a minute, Levi catches his breath and flings himself onto the couch beside Eren and slings an arm to rest on top of the couch behind Eren’s head.They both sigh amused at their antics.

Eren leans his head back and his hair brushes Levi’s hand. In a moment of instinct, Levi threads his fingers through the chocolate brown strands. 

For lack of an excuse, Levi decides to speak and distract Eren from asking “We suck at this don’t we?”

Eren hums, his eyes closed, and whether it's in agreement or not Levi doesn’t know. It's silent again for a minute until Eren opens his eyes and stares at Levi a small smile on his lips.

“We’re a lot better at this together than we would be alone.”

Levi thinks maybe he isn’t talking solely about the parenting, but he shoves the thought away and instead chuckles and runs his hand through Eren’s hair.

“Yea maybe kid, just maybe.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you it was domestic filler!! But I enjoyed writing this nonetheless, because I love writing their friendly interactions and Ella is my sweet, precious love. Maybe she'll force these two idiots to stop being stupid haha! This is unbetaed so any mistakes you find don't hesitate to point them out. It was called to my attention I get my past and present tense mixed up so I hope I did better this chapter! If not let me know. Thanks again for reading :)


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